China and Iran have stepped up their abuses of human rights, targeting both anti-government activists and the free flow of information over the internet, the US State Department has said.
In its annual survey of human rights in 194 countries, the State Department also criticised Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia, which it faulted for killings of activists and journalists.
While it noted the end of Sri Lanka's 33-year civil war in May, the report found that both the government and the defeated rebel Tamil Tigers had used excessive force and committed abuses against civilians last year.
The report identified several general trends: government efforts to silence dissent, including by constraining internet communications; new and often "draconian" restrictions on civil society groups; and the persecution of vulnerable groups, such as minorities, women, children and the disabled.
China, long the target of US criticism for violating human rights, was accused of broadening its efforts to suppress information on the internet.
"China increased its efforts to monitor internet use, control content, restrict information, block access to foreign and domestic websites, encourage self-censorship, and punish those who violated regulations," it said, adding the government employed thousands to monitor electronic communications.
It said the government tightly controlled internet news, particularly around sensitive events such as the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, and automatically censored e-mail based on a changing list of sensitive words.
China's internet policies have thrust Beijing into a dispute with search engine giant Google which has said it may shut down its Chinese Google.cn portal and withdraw from the Chinese market out of concerns over censorship and a hacking attack from within the country.
The report also highlighted internet censorship in Iran, which accompanied the violent suppression of mass protests after the announcement that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected.
"The government's poor human rights record degenerated during the year, particularly after the disputed June presidential elections," it said, adding the authorities had undercut Iranians' right to change their government through a free and fair election.
The report said Iran disrupted electronic communications, blocking access to social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, and it noted that bandwidth had at times dropped, which may have been designed to restrict Internet access.
The United States, which severed diplomatic ties with Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, suspects Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is solely to generate electricity.
President Barack Obama's Administration has sought new engagement with Teheran, thus far with little to show for it.
The report noted that Iranian police and Basij religious volunteer militia violently suppressed demonstrations after the election, with clashes leading to the deaths of 37, according to official figures, and as many as 70, according to opposition groups.
By August, the government had detained at least 4,000 people, it said, and during the December 27 protests on Ashura, the ritual Shi'ite day of morning, the authorities detained 1,000 people and at least eight people were killed in street clashes.
The report found that Russia, another perennial target of US criticism in the survey, had weakened freedom of expression and media independence "by directing the editorial policies of government-owned media outlets, pressuring major independent outlets to abstain from critical coverage, and harassing and intimidating some journalists".
It said unknown people killed human rights activists and eight journalists, including Natalia Estemirova, who spent more than 10 years documenting killings, torture, and disappearances that she linked to Chechen authorities.
Ms Estemirova was kidnapped and shot in July.
China reaction
China's State Council Information Office, or Cabinet spokesman's office, issued its own annual assessment of the United States' human rights record in response, and this year it dwelt on America's economic woes.
"The United States not only has a terrible domestic human rights record, it is also the main source of many human rights disasters worldwide," the Chinese report said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
"Especially at a time when the world is suffering serious human rights disasters caused by the global financial crisis sparked by the US sub-prime crisis, the US government has ignored its own grave human rights problems and revelled in accusing other countries."
Factbox: America paints grim picture
Following are some of the highlights of the report, which altogether covers 194 countries.
China:
Beijing increased its efforts to monitor and restrict internet use, blocking access to selected domestic and foreign websites and deleting millions of items of information, the report said.
It also said the government exerted tight control over people perceived as threat to Communist Party rule, and increased repression of Uighurs following July riots in Xinjiang, handing out long prison terms and in some cases death sentences without due process.
In Tibet, the report said, Chinese authorities committed extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.
Iran:
The report said Iran's poor human rights record degenerated during the year, particularly after a government crackdown following the disputed June presidential elections.
It said Iran continued to restrict freedom of expression and assembly, while lack of due process was also a widespread problem. It said opposition groups said as many as 70 people had been killed in the violent crackdown on protests, while at least 4,000 people were detained.
Teheran continued to restrict freedom of religion, and had blocked Internet networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it said.
North Korea:
The report said North Korea maintained "rigid controls" over its citizens, depriving them of many basic rights, and noted that defectors and non-governmental organisations had reported extrajudicial killings, disappearances and arbitrary detentions.
The Pyongyang government controls virtually all information in the country, engages in systematic mass indoctrination of the population and denies genuine religious liberty, it said.
Cuba:
Cuba maintained severe limitations on free speech and freedom of assembly over the course of the year, the report said.
It said the government did not grant permission for any anti-government demonstrations or public meetings by human rights groups, and detained numerous opposition leaders under a range of charges.
The Cuban government also continued to restrict access to information, and human rights activists reported frequent government monitoring and disruption of cellphone and landline services.
Myanmar:
The US report accused Myanmar's military government of continued egregious human rights violations, including increased military attacks in restive minority regions and detention of civic activists without charge.
"The regime continued to rule by decree and was not bound by any constitutional provisions guaranteeing any fundamental freedoms," the report said.
Israel and Palestinian territories:
The report noted that Israel launched a military assault on Gaza in December 2008 following an increase in Palestinian rocket attacks targeting civilians in Israel.
It said human rights organisations estimated close to 1,400 Palestinians were killed and more than 5,000 were wounded in the air strikes and ground operations, although it also said Israel provided slightly lower figures. Thirteen Israelis were killed including three civilians, it said.
The report said Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank remained "significant barriers" to Palestinian movement, and listed reports of corruption, abuse of prisoners and failure to provide fair trials in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Russia:
Government actions have weakened freedom of expression and media independence in Russia, the report said, adding that a number of human rights activists and journalists had been killed by unknown persons.
"The government increasingly attempted to restrict media freedom to cover sensitive issues such as the conduct of federal forces in Chechnya, human rights abuses, and criticism of some government leaders," it said.
The report also noted that the situation had worsened in the North Caucasus region, with both government and insurgent forces accused of killings, torture and politically motivated abductions.
Sri Lanka:
The United States said that both government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) used excessive force and committed abuses against civilians before their 33-year-old conflict ended in May.
It said the LTTE denied freedom of movement to several hundred thousand ethnic Tamil civilians in regions under its control, and dramatically increased the forced recruitment of child soldiers.
It said the government's confinement of some 300,000 people displaced by the conflict called into question its commitment to human rights, although it said it had noted some improvements in the run-up to the January 2010 presidential elections.
Others:
The report noted human rights problems in a number of other countries, including US allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia, conflict-riven Sudan and both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It also highlighted an increase in "traditional and new forms of anti-Semitism", as well as rising discrimination against Muslims in Europe highlighted by Switzerland's November 29 passage of a referendum banning the construction of minarets.